This blog began as an online newspaper about Kings Cross, Sydney. It now focuses on the deep problems of drug prohibition - which are so intrinsic to Kings Cross anyway - and exposes the many flaws in the prohibitionist argument, and the pseudo-science that governments fund to prop up their unjust and ineffective laws. Comments are welcome, but please be polite! Content on this site reflects only the views of the writer and are not necessarily those of the editor or any other organisation.

Tuesday, November 16, 2004

The Redfern Waterloo Authority will be able to expand its area of influence by a stroke of the pen according to an SMH story today -- click the headline for a link.

Not a mention of windfall profits for the people who donate most to Labor coffers. Frank Sartor's star is on the rise. High rise, uniformity on a grand scale and the scent of diesel fumes would seem to be the future of Sydney.

6 comments:

Anonymous
said...

Frank in fact has an excellent record of promoting the interests of Sydney. That's why he was so popular with the electorate. You as a Frank Sartor hater need to come up with more credible stuff if you hope to influence others. Whatever his faults, he is way ahead of any of the alternatives.

Who said anything about hating Frank? He certainly deserves respect for his organisational abilities.

But it wouldn't matter who headed the new Authority, it remains a completely anti-democratic, top-down push from which only developers will benefit. If you've read the more detailed story above, I'd like to hear a justification of the total lack of accountability and the complete lack of social or community objectives.

And this electorate didn't vote for Frank, nor his appointed successor Mrs Turnbull. They were imposed on us by the Carr Government who then handed Frank his safe seat.

Your only defence of this can be that dictatorships are OK when they are benign. Then you'd have to show me one that remained so, as absolute power corrupts absolutely. Ok, dictatorship is slightly too strong a term, but it's the closest word I can think of for what happened.

Frank, as a prominent public figure spending our money, is wide open for frank media comment, so to speak.

Even so, we condemn the sin, not the sinner. Any critical mention we make of him always hangs on facts and argument, not simple ridicule or abuse. We can't help it if many of his actions show no regard for heritage, history, democracy, the environment, the community or aesthetics.

The failure of many of his projects is becoming obvious. Customs House, for one. The Woollies building in KX for another (it was bought as an investment, not a library).

Surely these things must bother even his supporters? They bother a lot of people I know. This new Bill is stirring up a lot of outrage!

You really need to look at why the problems exist in Redfern . There has been a complete lack of tactical solutions to our problems down here. Lots of letters and little action. Please explain why it only became worse down here?

For years nothing happened and when the riots happeneds earlier this year there was a pathetic silence from our local member.

Your hatred of Mr Sartor is self evident. He achieved results and Sydney florished as a result of his initiative. Sure there are many projects which he initiated that are not attractive and even offends our heritage. I am only sorry that he had to leave the city and go to represent Hurstville.

If you happen to like what Frank did, fair enough and I can see your point. Lucky though, as you weren't consulted about any of it. That is my concern.

The problems in Redfern started with Captain Cook. They also have a lot to do with prohibition, which of course the Carr government enforces ever-more heavily. Overdevelopment and ignoring normal democratic process will only sunder communities, causing more problems.

Clover is in fact heavily involved in the place and has a lot to do with the incremental measures which are being put in place -- like the new community and resource centre there. These will at least help to some degree. To be fair, the state government is also involved in this work. They're not all bad!

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About Me

Hello again. world. I am a journalist, designer and photographer eking out a living by grazing on economic opportunities that come my way. I have run my business, Superkern Design Pty Ltd, since 1991. The gross oversupply of designers being pumped out by a dysfunctional university system has made it very difficult to survive as a designer since the late '90s, but on balance I like the advantages of working for myself at home. The older I get, the more human affairs look farcical. The average person is pretty damn average, you see. But there you go. I try to inject some commonsense into the public discourse which, at least in Sydney, is increasingly dominated by moral panics and middle-class agendas of control and gentrification. I don't quite understand why people from alternative subcultures tend to be quite happy for the middle class to live their lives as they wish, but the reverse is not true. And yet this same middleclass constantly use the words "diversity" and "tolerance". It's a funny old world.
See my Superkern and photoart sites linked above.